Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

[CaptBeefheart]

How big is his Truk garrison? I wouldn't undertake an invasion of that unless I was sure I could do it before the KB showed up, and that means having overwhelming force. The couple of times I've done it (vs. computer IJ) it's taken a while. Not having air and naval superiority during the invasion could be fatal to the invasion forces.

Cheers,
CB

[apbarog]

I'd have to check the stacking limit at Truk. It's either 25k or 30k. He's near the limit, so it is full. No idea how much of that is combat troops.

I have 3 divisions with multiple armor and artillery units completely prepped. It wouldn't fall immediately, considering how big the forts probably are, but I'd land enough troops and supply that I wouldn't lose. Not without a long blockade by KB.

It wouldn't be without risk. If I can run his land based aircraft off the island by repeatedly bombing with heavies and sweeping with P-38s, I think it could work.

[apbarog]

Truk has a 25,000 stacking limit. Latest recon shows 17 units with 27,320 men, 342 guns and 45 vehicles. I believe that it has its own fortress naval gun unit, and I know from SigInt that the Wake coastal gun unit was moved to Truk.

[apbarog]

I have a question. I had a couple of carrier squadrons that were split up, with the parent fragment being destroyed on a sinking CVE, and a surviving fragment flying off to safety. The problem was, the surviving fragment didn't become the parent in upcoming turns. The unit was still listed with the parent destroyed. I went ahead and disbanded the surviving fragments, and purchased the destroyed units so that they reappear in the US at some future date.

My question is, should the surviving fragment have become the parent? I thought that was how it was supposed to work.

[RangerJoe]

Air unit fragments are just that and will stay that way unless destroyed or disbanded.

[jwolf]

Truk's CD guns are really nasty. If he's got the Wake guns there, too, that would be a very tough combination to try to get through for any landing...

... so obviously the solution is to use an airborne unit! [:D]

[RangerJoe]

Bypass Truk and let it wither.

[apbarog]

I confused ground unit fragments and air unit fragments. Thanks for the clarification. I hadn't lost an air unit in this way in a long time.

As for Truk, it's hard not to want to pull the trigger with the strike package completely prepped. Bypassing would mean reassigning targets, and a long delay. If I cancelled Truk, I'd be just as likely to move 2 of those 3 divisions to Darwin for help with the primary axis of attack.

I have some time to think about it. The many xAPs to be used in the Truk diversion, and then the real thing at Truk, have just left San Francisco and are headed to Tabiteuea.

[apbarog]

20 May 43

Trigger fired 2 torpedoes at xAK Hauraki Maru near the China coast. Both missed. Many cargo ships and patrol boats. Trigger got hit with a depth charge and many near misses, and is lucky to escape the shallow water. It starts to head back to Darwin.

A big tanker convoy is spotted near Hong Kong. Naval search and low naval bombers are moved into Nanning. Let's surprise some big tankers! I do have a US airbase support unit, one that can provide torpedoes, walking along the Burma trail. Eventually it will support naval strike raids.

Gato hit xAK Shofuku Maru with a torpedo near Peleliu.

KB and BBs not spotted today, but there's some sub detection levels near Manado. That's within a days steaming to Ambon. US DMs will lay mines at Namlea tonight. Enemy ships coming to Ambon from the north have to go through Namlea.

P-38s swept Kendari, and heavy bombers hit the airfield. Defense was stiff, with 42 Tonys and 26 A6M5 Zeros. Total losses were 19 Tonys, 12 Zeros and 10 Oscars (hit the ground) for 11 P-38s, 4 B-17s and a B-24. Major R.J. Sandell got his 15th kill at Kendari. Captain B.D. Wagner also got his 15th kill, but was wounded in action. 3 P-38 aces were KIA, and 4 others were WIA.

2nd Marines attack at Ambon.

Ground combat at Ambon (76,109)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15477 troops, 278 guns, 242 vehicles, Assault Value = 486

Defending force 5706 troops, 52 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 70

Allied adjusted assault: 86

Japanese adjusted defense: 175

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
583 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 11 (2 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
102 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
2nd Marine Division
3rd USMC Tank Battalion
23rd USN Special Construction Battalion
53rd Aus Lt AA Regiment
9th Marine Defense Battalion
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
16th Base Maint Engineer Battalion
223rd Field Artillery Battalion
1/532nd Boat&Shore Engineer Battalion
24th USN Special Construction Battalion

Defending units:
I./4th Infantry Battalion
III./4th Infantry Battalion
24th Special Base Force
60th JNAF AF Unit
29th Fld AA Gun Co
25th JAAF AF Bn

The enemy is dug in well but is weak. Poor odds and no fort reduction, but good casualty counts. The base will fall. I expect the enemy battleships to arrive any time now. The Marines need a day of rest before attacking again, longer if they are naval bombarded.

An LST convoy with supply is turning around and heading to Saumlaki. It was spotted and would be easy pickings at Ambon. Supply is ok at Ambon but not plentiful. C-47s are supplementing supply there and at Namlea.

Originally called "Yorktown II", the new carrier, still in the pipeline of construction, was re-christened the "Dewey", honoring ARD Dewey's heroic escape from Manila to Pearl Harbor via the waters just south of the Japanese home islands. Never before (and never again) will a carrier be named after a floating drydock, not to mention a floating drydock that is still floating. But Dugout Doug guided the floating box straight at the enemy, and successfully evacuated his millions of dollars of gold, and delivered it to the beaches of Waikiki.

The Dewey "shall return" to hit the southern coast of Japan once again.

[CaptBeefheart]

Great choice on the name of that CV. I'd like to think the Dewey also carried all the fermentation vessels, bright tanks, brew kettles and lauter tuns from the San Miguel brewery, the one that MacArthur supposedly had an interest in.

Good luck in hitting that convoy near HK.

Cheers,
CB

[apbarog]

21 May 43

Pollack missed a cargo ship near Donggala. Haddock missed an E-boat near Morotai. Plunger missed and E-boat near Donggala. Steelhead hit xAK Myoko Maru near Wenchow, but the one torpedo hit was a dud. Broke a nice string of non-dud hits. Whale hit PB Teimei Maru with 2 torpedoes near Legaspi, sinking the patrol boat. Whale attacked again later in the day, and hit xAK Kiyo Maru with a torpedo, but it was a dud.

US minelayers Tracy and Preble got to Namlea to lay 150 mines, but bad luck continued, and Kongo, Haruna, Hiei and Kirishima and escorts was coming through on the way to Ambon. Tracy was sunk but Preble escaped in bad weather. Unfortunately, Preble retreated to Ambon and that's where the enemy was going, so Preble was tracked down and sunk. The US ships didn't lay their mines. A day sooner, and who knows what could have happened in that minefield. During the daylight, enemy xAPs are spotted at Ambon. No enemy troops unloaded during the day though. Enemy carriers are one hex away to the north, but for some reason, there was no enemy CAP over the battleships and transports at Ambon. Allied medium bombers from Timor hit enemy troops at Ambon and found no enemy fighters.

9 Jills and 23 Zeros from KB went after cargo ships near Lautem. Corsairs and Wildcats were on ranged CAP. The Zeros didn't keep the fighters from getting to the Jills, though, and 9 Jills were shot down. Another raid, just to the south, found 14 Jills with 49 Zeros going after an LST and an SC. Both ships were sunk, with no CAP here. The LST was empty and was returning from unloading at Wetar. I think this was my first LST loss of the war. They are workhorses and there will be losses.

US artillery attacked at Ambon. With enemy troops now probably about to land, I wish I had deliberately attacked. I order the Marines to attack today, but the outcome is uncertain. The enemy is expected to reinforce, and there could be a new division there when the attack happens at the end of the day. But we attack now, while we can.

Ambon could be headed for a stalemate.

My surprise move of naval search and low naval bombers to Nanning in China worked. It was a surprise. A big cargo convoy and a big tanker convoy was spotted. A B-26 squadron attacked the cargo convoy at 1,000 feet. No CAP. And every bomb missed. More bad luck.

Enemy troop strength continues to build in Thailand. Bangkok is up to 63,780 men with 466 guns and 418 vehicles. Rahaeng and vicinity and Chiang Mai are both heavily defended. An enemy stack northwest of Bangkok is over 40,000 men, and just a hex away from trying to cut off the coastal road.

I'm starting to think that my slow, enveloping attack in the Rahaeng area isn't a good idea. If I send so many troops into the jungle, and the enemy loads up Rahaeng and pushes west on the trail, my troops in the jungle would be on their own, with months of walking to safety.

I'm considering going defensive where I am, and pulling back the newly committed troops, and maybe starting planning for a new amphibious operation.

[BBfanboy]

Too bad about the B-26s missing those ships. I suspect the problem was that they needed Low Naval skill at that altitude and are probably not trained at all in that. At 2000 feet they would have used NavB skill, which is more commonly trained somewhat.

[apbarog]

They had Low Naval training, and flew at 1000 feet. They just missed, unfortunately. If only they were the mighty Beaufighters
that are in Australia!

[EDIT: Weather was thunderstorms, which didn't help.]

[apbarog]

22 May 43

Near Portland Roads, I-8 fired 4 torpedoes at big AO Kaskaskia, which was empty and heading south to Townsville to pick up fuel for Darwin. One torpedo hit. Kaskaskia is SYS 21/FLOT 33-19/ENG 1/FIRE 0 and will continue to Townsville. Lots of Allied shipping here, in a restricted area, and plenty of subs looking for them. The carrier task force with 3 damaged US carriers was spotted with 4/4 DL. I hoped they'd be seen. The fit carriers are still at Wyndham, being invisible. Damaged battleship Washington is almost to safety, heading for the shallows north of Townsville.

Cruiser Chicago and destroyer Phelps bombarded Broome. 97 casualties. Chicago had been damaged in the Indian Ocean and was repaired at Capetown. It will now make regular bombardment runs to Broome.

22 Bettys with 29 Zero escorts tried to hit Allied troops at Ambon. 6 Spitfires from Namlea intercepted. A Spitfire was lost and the bombers all missed. I moved the Spits back to Lautem. With KB right there, a handful of Spits won't help and will probably be sought out for destruction.

Speaking of which, the enemy didn't move around Ambon. Transports unload part of an infantry division and are still there, as are the battleships escorting. KB stayed in place to the north. Since there's probably more troops to unload, I hatched a plan.

A couple of xAKs have been making regular supply runs from Tulagi to Vangunu. They take a few days to unload. 45 Zeros swept Vangunu today, finding 25 P-40Ks. 11 Warhawks were lost, shooting down 5 A6M5 Zeros. 8 Vals attacked separately, and although there were still 8 Warhawks in the air, they didn't intercept. xAK Autolycus was sunk by 3 bombs, and xAK Aldinga was hit by one bomb. It's now disbanded in port, burning.

Heavy bombers hit Japanese troops at Broome.

Allied troops attacked again at Ambon. Interesting result.

Ground combat at Ambon (76,109)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15505 troops, 278 guns, 242 vehicles, Assault Value = 490

Defending force 7776 troops, 54 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 186

Allied adjusted assault: 161

Japanese adjusted defense: 91

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 4)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 3

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1052 casualties reported
Squads: 51 destroyed, 24 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 13 (8 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
259 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
2nd Marine Division
3rd USMC Tank Battalion
223rd Field Artillery Battalion
9th Marine Defense Battalion
1/532nd Boat&Shore Engineer Battalion
53rd Aus Lt AA Regiment
16th Base Maint Engineer Battalion
23rd USN Special Construction Battalion
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
24th USN Special Construction Battalion

Defending units:
III./4th Infantry Battalion
I./4th Infantry Battalion
48th Div /1
29th Fld AA Gun Co
24th Special Base Force
60th JNAF AF Unit
25th JAAF AF Bn

Part of the enemy 48th Division landed, but the attack came off much better than the day before, against far fewer defenders. Instead of a disruption modifier from yesterday, they got an experience one today. I'll take the result and will attack again.

Speaking of which, the enemy didn't move around Ambon. Transports unloaded part of an infantry division and are still there, as are the battleships escorting. KB stayed in place to the north. Since there's probably more troops to unload, I hatched a plan. 157 SBDs were moved to Lautem, 7 hexes from Ambon, hoping to target the battleship and transport task forces. KB is 8 hexes away. The SBDs are set to a range limit of 7. About 70 Wildcats are supposed to escort. About 30 P-38s are supposed to sweep. It would have been nice to use TBFs for the battleships, but their range is 6 with torpedoes. Too far.

[EDIT: Did a massive reorganization in Burma. We'll go defensive there, with many units being pulled out of Rangoon, eventually, to go back to Ceylon. Prepping for all units has begun, prepping for a new amphibious operation. And it isn't Sabang. It may immediately follow the US move to Denpassar and the tip of Java, with US carriers moving to support. We'll see. No chance of advancing in Thailand. OPilot has done a big reinforcement there, combined with all of the units that escaped from Burma and are being rebuilt.]

[BBfanboy]

Your bombs will not penetrate the BB deck armour but they can start fires and cause lots of system damage. It takes about 30+ bomb hits to get a BB with enough fires and system damage to burn up. For that reason, 4X 500 lb. bombs from each TBF/TBM are a great contribution, and their bombs will also hurt transports and DDs badly. You also can overwhelm the CAP with bomber numbers but the down side is the greater chance of uncoordinated attack with additional air groups and plane numbers.

Since the waters around Ambon are restricted by the islands, you might also consider mining some hexes, even open ocean ones. Those IJ ships are gonna leave soon. [:)]

[apbarog]

I'd just lost a couple of DMs trying to drop mines at Namlea, next to Ambon. Unfortunately, they arrived the same night as the enemy battleships.

23 May 43

Dutch sub KXVII hit AO Erimo with 2 torpedoes near Donggala. The ship was carrying fuel and burned.

Very interesting sighting.

ASW attack near Marcus Island at 123,84

Japanese Ships
DD Shiokaze
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
CS Nisshin
DD Minekaze
DD Hokaze
DD Yakaze

Allied Ships
SS Pompon

SS Pompon launches 2 torpedoes at DD Shiokaze

Unless there's some elaborate enemy raid going on, these ships are out hunting near Marcus Island. I'd moved a few Fletcher class destroyers around Marcus about a week ago, first southwest of the island, then northeast. With Marcus being just a level one airfield, I didn't have many worries. But my ships were spotted and the raid was called off. OPilot may be still wondering what all that was about.

The 2 P-38 squadrons and the Hellcat squadron didn't sweep Ambon, so no sweepers prior to these attacks.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ambon at 76,109

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 19
A6M5b Zero x 14

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 50
SBD-3 Dauntless x 67

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed
A6M5b Zero: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 6 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 1
xAP Kamakura Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
BB Hiei, Bomb hits 2
xAP Tatsuta Maru, Bomb hits 4, on fire
BB Haruna
DD Takanami, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Kongo

Japanese ground losses:
253 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)

and

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ambon at 76,109

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 35 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 8
A6M5b Zero x 6

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 18
SBD-3 Dauntless x 30

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5b Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 destroyed, 8 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
BB Haruna
BB Hiei, Bomb hits 1

It's notable that a 15cm gun on Hiei was reportedly destroyed. Total air losses were 22 SBDs and 16 Wildcats for 11 Zeros. Not sure the cost was worth it. Depends on how much of the enemy division is destroyed.

Today's ground attack at Ambon wasn't as good as yesterday's, but not bad.

Ground combat at Ambon (76,109)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15324 troops, 278 guns, 242 vehicles, Assault Value = 471

Defending force 9060 troops, 47 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 257

Allied adjusted assault: 154

Japanese adjusted defense: 166

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
297 casualties reported
Squads: 28 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 9 (5 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
124 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 14 (1 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Troops will rest to recover disruption and fatigue. I'll need to move supply into Ambon if given the opportunity.

[apbarog]

24 May 43

S-34 was given a tough mission. Go to the shallows of Ambon, with many ships there and KB close. It was spotted by the battleship TF and hit with a depth charge. It should survive the trip back to Darwin.

Lots of enemy E-boat activity between Manado and Ambon, trying to clear the way of Allied subs.

Enemy battleship TF bombarded US troops on Ambon, but caused just 91 casualties and little disruption. Troops will attack today.

A British TF with 3 excellent sub-hunting DEs tracked down I-37 west of Rangoon and hit it with 3 depth charges. No sign of sinking, but it's in bad shape.

I had a sneaky plan for Manado today. I'm pretty sure that KB and other ships are headed to Manado from Ambon. I've done recon of other bases, and they've been basically empty. Manado is a hive of activity. I've never used air-dropped mines before, but this is a great situation. KB could arrive there, but during the daylight . The mines would drop at night. As we all know, the enemy gets a message that the mines were dropped there, but it's too late for any ships arriving late in the day. It would be almost a dirty trick. But alas, Manado is not a "city" so a mine attack cannot be ordered. Too bad. I've never used air-dropped mines, but I will, sometime.

[apbarog]

25 May 43

Snapper fired 4 torpedoes at destroyer Naganami but missed. Naganami is part of the battleship task force that bombarded Ambon, and has now gone to Manado. Tunny hit xAP Tatsuta Maru with a dud torpedo northwest of Ambon. The ship is already damaged by divebombers, and still has men loaded. Missed opportunity. Not far to the east, Haddock hit xAP Koan Maru with a torpedo, causing heavy damage. There are troops on this ship, which may have been coming from Babeldaob.

Mitchell IIs and Marauders bombed Ambon's troops.

B-24s hit troops on Jaluit. Loading for a reinforcing invasion of Jaluit has begun at Tabiteuea, and will continue at Tarawa tomorrow.

US troops attacked again at Ambon. Decent results.

Ground combat at Ambon (76,109)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15984 troops, 280 guns, 242 vehicles, Assault Value = 469

Defending force 8917 troops, 55 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 263

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Allied adjusted assault: 92

Japanese adjusted defense: 175

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 2)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
424 casualties reported
Squads: 12 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 14 (8 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
224 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 30 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Assaulting units:
2nd Marine Division
3rd USMC Tank Battalion
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
223rd Field Artillery Battalion
23rd USN Special Construction Battalion
9th Marine Defense Battalion
53rd Aus Lt AA Regiment
1/532nd Boat&Shore Engineer Battalion
16th Base Maint Engineer Battalion
24th USN Special Construction Battalion

Defending units:
I./4th Infantry Battalion
48th Division
III./4th Infantry Battalion
24th Special Base Force
29th Fld AA Gun Co
60th JNAF AF Unit
25th JAAF AF Bn

I estimate that about 2/3 of the enemy's 48th Division had unloaded at Ambon. Probably missing a lot of guns and vehicles.

KB is about 5 hexes to the northwest of Ambon, covering the retreating ships going to Manado, and staying within range of Ambon. APDs at Lautem will try to deliver supply to Ambon by fast transport tonight.

[apbarog]

26 May 43

Lots of US sub versus Japanese E-boat action between Ambon and Manado. US APDs delivered fast transport supply to troops on Ambon. On the way out, an enemy sub hit APD Pope with a torpedo and sank her. The sub was reported to be I-124, but I've gotten lots of wrong reports about the enemy minelaying subs, so I doubt it was I-124. The APDs retired to Lautem.

Lots of enemy air activity over Lanchow in northern China. The enemy has massed just to the east. It won't be long now. They have a river crossing to deal with. A fresh Chinese unit just got to Lanchow from the south. But against an enemy tank division, it may not matter.

I've been flying medium bomber raids from Dili to Ambon. I got too predictable. OPilot put Zeros over Ambon, flying LRCAP from KB 3 hexes away. 17 Dutch Mitchell II's and 8 US B-26s were lost. They shot down 3 Zeros. Revenge comes today. 2 Hellcat units from Lautem and P-38s from Koepang will sweep Ambon. No bombers assigned. Let's get some KB fighter pilots.

Enemy destroyers at Victoria Point disappeared today.

I-165 was patrolling west of Rangoon, on the route north to Calcutta. It spotted xAK Boero without escort, and hit it with shells and 2 torpedoes. Boero and other xAKs were headed to Rangoon to help extract troops for a future amphibious invasion. I very rarely move cargo ships without at least one escort. I didn't intend to here, but I apparently did.

A task force of Fletcher class destroyers will move north from Wyndham, and set up within range of a full speed run into Ambon. I suspect at least one AK is inbound, and it'll probably be there more than one day.

Essex appeared in Panama. It's the first of many new improved carriers. But it'll be awhile until another appears.

[apbarog]

27 May 43

US cruisers Chester and Northampton, with 7 destroyers, bombarded Jaluit, causing 517 casualties, including a fair number of destroyed devices. Jaluit gets bombed regularly, and there's nowhere to hide on the clear terrain.

Gudgeon fired 4 torpedoes at destroyer Kagero near Manado. They missed. KB is now at Manado, along with the battleship TF, a big AO TF, and many other ships.

Enemy bombers and fighters hit Great Nicobar in the Andamans for the first time. Great Nicobar is the southernmost island, closest to Sabang. When it got built to a size 1 airfield, it got noticed. It will serve as something for the enemy to hit.

The enemy air offensive in Northern China continued, with almost 100 bombers hitting Kungchang, south of Lanchow. Heavy airbase damage. Little Chinese supply in this area. Chungking has extra supply now, but getting it to flow to the north is proving difficult. Still too many closer bases and units that need it, and there's just a trail for it to flow on.

Another attack by the Marines on Ambon. Got a radical change in adjusted assault values today, for the worse.

Ground combat at Ambon (76,109)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15950 troops, 279 guns, 241 vehicles, Assault Value = 460

Defending force 8780 troops, 56 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 262

Allied adjusted assault: 71

Japanese adjusted defense: 580

Allied assault odds: 1 to 8 (fort level 2)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
833 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 7 (6 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
468 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 54 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled

Assaulting units:
2nd Marine Division
3rd USMC Tank Battalion
9th Marine Defense Battalion
1/532nd Boat&Shore Engineer Battalion
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
23rd USN Special Construction Battalion
53rd Aus Lt AA Regiment
16th Base Maint Engineer Battalion
223rd Field Artillery Battalion
24th USN Special Construction Battalion

Defending units:
48th Division
I./4th Infantry Battalion
III./4th Infantry Battalion
29th Fld AA Gun Co
24th Special Base Force
60th JNAF AF Unit
25th JAAF AF Bn

US artillery will continue to bombard, and the Marines will pause for a bit.

Adjacent Namlea is a size 2 US base. It was enemy held, but a US regiment landed there when the Marines landed on Ambon. Namlea autoflipped. OPilot may not think anything actually landed there, with the autoflip. I've had Catalinas there searching, seeing everything up to Manado. Today I moved some SBDs in. With KB moving north to Manado, there's some xAPs at Ternate that are in SBD range. If KB doesn't move back south, we may get a surprise strike in today.